


Soft As She Is

by Tangela



Series: Final Fantasy VII [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, This is so soft and gay my dudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:01:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25978654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangela/pseuds/Tangela
Summary: The party stops at Costa del Sol for some much needed rest, and Tifa wrestles with her feelings for a certain flower girl.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Series: Final Fantasy VII [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701667
Comments: 5
Kudos: 81





	Soft As She Is

The glaring light and stifling heat of the Costa del Sol sun was the first thing to greet the party as they stepped off the ship. They'd decided to take a break and stay the night at an inn as soon as they'd reached land. Tifa breathed an inward sigh of relief. As much as she understood Cloud's need to find Sephiroth - Gaia knew she wanted to make him pay for what he'd done too - everyone was exhausted. Even Cloud's stamina was starting to wear thin, not that he'd ever admit it.

The group went their separate ways, agreeing to find each other should Shinra cause any trouble, and now that she was alone, Tifa suddenly had no idea what to do with herself. The past week had been nothing but chaos, and she'd barely had a moment to herself. But now that she did, an overwhelming wave of emotion struck her. Everything was gone, all of it reduced to ash and rubble, and only a handful of survivors to speak of. Of course she was grateful that she was alive, but the others-

"Hey. Mind if I join you?"

Tifa turned around to find Aerith beaming at her. She forced a smile onto her face, suddenly aware that her eyes were watering.

"I'd like that," she replied, turning to wipe her face as casually as she could.

"I was thinking about going down to the beach," Aerith said, her voice as airy as ever, pretending not to notice.

Tifa was grateful for that.

"Sounds good to me. Who knows when we'll get the chance again?"

Aerith nodded. "With Cloud in charge? Never at this rate," she replied with a giggle.

Tifa laughed. "Can't fault his enthusiasm."

Aerith held out her hand as they reached the top of the steps leading down to the beach.

"Let's take our minds off all of that for now."

Tifa hesitated for a moment, before slipping her hand into Aerith's, letting her lead them both down to the warm sand.

Finding an umbrella to sit under, Tifa let her eyes close, tilting her head to the sky. The warm sun felt so good on her skin, and she let herself gently drop down onto her back. It was funny, now that she thought about it, how Aerith always seemed to appear when Tifa needed her most.

Like when they'd made their escape from Midgar and settled in Kalm that same night. Tifa had tossed and turned long after everyone had fallen asleep, thinking about what she should have done, what she should have said. That, maybe, if she'd made it in time, everyone would still be here.

She'd eventually given up on sleep and sat up, only to find Aerith at the window, huddled up on the sill with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking out at the night sky.

Tifa crept across the room to sit with her, and the two had ended up spending most of the night talking, until Tifa had eventually broke down in tears over everything. Aerith had just cuddled close to her, letting her talk and stroking her hair until she'd calmed.

Tifa had expected it to make things weird between them - Gaia knew Cloud never did well with emotional outbursts - but the next day, Aerith was her usual cheery self. There was no pity, nor did she fuss over Tifa, she was just...Aerith.

Tifa felt that sickly lump rising in her throat again.

"It's been so long since I've been to the beach," she said in an attempt to distract herself.

"I've never been," Aerith replied, absent-mindedly drawing shapes in the sand.

Tifa propped herself up on her elbows.

"Never?"

Aerith shook her head. "I've only seen pictures," she said with a sad smile.

Tifa felt the pain in her voice. She sat up, taking off her boots and stockings.

"Then we should make it memorable, yeah?"

She held out a hand as she stood up.

Aerith looked at her warily. "What are you doing?"

Tifa smiled at her, offering her hand again. "Trust me."

Aerith nodded, pulling off her own boots and placing her hand in Tifa's. She let Tifa lead her to the shoreline, where little waves rolled along the sand before disappearing back into the vast blue sea.

Aerith stopped, her eyes wide with wonder and...

Fear, Tifa realised.

Her hand still holding Aerith's, she slowly walked into the water. Aerith just looked at her quizzically.

"I'm with you, okay?"

Aerith paused for a moment.

"Okay," she said, and with a shaky little breath, followed Tifa into the sea.

They stood together quietly, still hand in hand, as the water lapped at their ankles.

"Not so bad, right?"

"I know, I just..." Aerith faltered.

"It's scary, seeing how big the world really is," Tifa finished.

Aerith just nodded.

"All my life I've been caged in," she said. "And now I'm free, I...I'm terrifed."

Tifa gently squeezed her hand.

"But you're not alone. You've got all of us to look out for you, just like you look out for us."

Aerith smiled, but Tifa could see the tears shining in her eyes.

"C'mon, let's go a little deeper," she said.

If Aerith had hastily wiped at her face, Tifa was polite enough not to mention it.

Aerith lifted the hem of her dress past her knees, slowly wading further out into the water as Tifa watched her. She may have been as rough as the rest of them, and with a mouth that put Barret to shame at times, but there was also something so innocent about Aerith. As if just being around her would make everything okay. It left Tifa with an ache, and she couldn't explain why. There was something else, something more-

Tifa was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of a yelp and Aerith tumbling into the water as a large wave crashed into her.

"Aerith!"

Tifa moved as fast as she could, holding out her hands to help Aerith up. The water was hardly deep, but the shock alone must have been too much for her.

Wet hands grabbed Tifa's, and before she knew it, she was being pulled down too. She scrambled to her knees, pushing her now soaked hair out of her face to find an absolutely drenched Aerith laughing at her. She wanted to argue, but the pure joy in Aerith's face stopped her in her tracks, and she burst out laughing too.

"You scared me!" she said in a mock-angry tone, gently splashing water in Aerith's face.

Aerith stuck her tongue out in response, laughing again.

"You need to lighten up."

Tifa sighed, a wistful smile pulling at her lips. "Maybe you're right."

She was about to say something when a voice from the shore interrupted her.

"Hey!"

Tifa looked to find Cloud waving at them. She waved back before turning to Aerith.

"Do you think he's worried about us?" Aerith asked.

"Probably."

"Good," Aerith replied, and they both giggled.

They pulled themselves upright with some difficulty, all but dragging themselves back to land.

"I think I'm starting to regret this," Tifa said, her hair hanging heavy over her shoulder.

"I'm not," Aerith replied, slipping her hand into Tifa's.

There it was again - that ache. What was it? Tifa tried to ignore it as they walked, Aerith all but skipping the whole while.

"You two alright?" Cloud asked.

"Yup," Aerith replied. "Tifa and I got into a big fight, but we're okay now."

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't-"

Aerith rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Of course we didn't. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got a lovely room to go drip all over."

Tifa managed to gather up their things before Aerith dragged her off, shooting Cloud an apologetic smile. Cloud just watched them go with a shake of his head.

\--

The walk back to the inn was short, but for Tifa, it felt like an age. The heat suddenly felt stifling, and the whirlwind of thoughts in her head was certainly not helping. She needed space to think.

"I'm- I'm gonna go clean up in the bathroom," she stammered, turning around and only managing to stop herself from slamming into Barret.

"Watch where you're goin', alright?" he said a little too gruffy, storming past before Tifa could say anything.

She noticed a flash of white under his arm before he disappeared downstairs, stifling a smile as she stepped into the bathroom.

She locked the door behind her, letting out a long sigh she wasn't even aware she'd been holding in.

Something wasn't right, she could feel it, and it bothered her. She prided herself on her intuition, especially when it came to her own heart. No one could ever know her better than...well, her.

But now...

She stood in front of the mirror, making an attempt to clean the mess of the sea out of her hair with a towel. Her mind drifted back to the beach, to her and Aerith in the water, Aerith laughing...

Aerith...

And suddenly it all came crashing down on her.

_Oh._

Now it all made sense. She felt strongly about all of her friends, of course she did, but this, this felt...different.

Lately all of her thoughts seemed to centre around Aerith. Her eyes, her smile, how she always seemed to have an answer for everything.

Tifa's heart ached. She'd had this feeling before, only once, a very long time ago, when Cloud had left for Midgar. She'd stood at the edge of town long after he'd said goodbye, and had cried herself to sleep that night. Now, things were different, she'd grown up and moved on, and she loved him in the same way she loved Barret and Marlene.

But Aerith...

It was the same ache, and just like back then, she had no idea what to do.

"Tifa? Are you okay?" Aerith's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Yes!" she called back a little too quickly, and found her voice wobbling. "Yeah, I'm okay. Be right out!"

She set the towel aside, deeming her hair a lost cause, and wiped at her eyes quickly with the palms of her hands.

Deep breath. Everything's fine.

She opened the door to find Aerith waiting outside.

"Everything alright?" she asked, concern behind her smile.

Tifa nodded. "Having a little trouble with this," she replied, gesturing to her hair.

Aerith made her way to her bed, sitting on the edge and patting the space in front of her.

"Sit. I wanna help."

Tifa wanted to say something, but decided against it, instead sitting on the floor between Aerith's legs. Aerith ran her fingers through Tifa's long hair, gently pulling free any tangles. It wasn't long before Tifa could feel herself beginning to fall asleep. She couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her so gently. She wasn't normally one for letting her guard down like this, but with Aerith...

It was as if she had never needed to guard herself in the first place.

"There. All pretty again," Aerith said with a smile, carefully tucking a few loose strands away as she fastened the end of Tifa's hair into a tie.

Tifa carefully slid her hand down her long plait of hair.

"Thank you."

Aerith just nodded, her hands resting on Tifa's shoulders.

"My first boyfriend told me that he'd take me to see the sky one day," she said after a time.

Her voice was casual, but Tifa could tell that far more lay beneath that calm surface. She said nothing, unsure as to what to say.

"He- He never made it home from his last job. I know he's okay, though."

The silence stretched between them for a while.

"I'm glad that I got to see it with you," Aerith said quietly.

Tifa looked up to find Aerith already looking down at her. She wanted to say something, anything, but she couldn't find the words. Aerith was leaning down, her eyes falling closed, and Tifa went without a fight, letting Aerith kiss her. Aerith's fingers were gentle against her neck as they moved upwards, palms softly cupping Tifa's face.

Tifa placed her hands over Aerith's, more to steady herself than anything. This was really happening. The lump in her throat had all but disappeared.

Eventually, they broke apart, shy smiles on both of their faces. Tifa bit back a laugh as Aerith placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.

"How long...?" she started, not quite sure how to phrase it.

"Since the night in the train graveyard," Aerith replied. "You saved me. My knight in shining armour."

Tifa laughed, bringing a hand up to gently touch Aerith's cheek.

"You're hardly a damsel in distress."

Aerith made a show of flexing her arm, and Tifa laughed again.

"See? You can take care of yourself."

Aerith's face softened.

"I know I can, but..."

"It's nice to have someone on your side. I know."

Aerith nodded. "Exactly."

Her hands dropped from Tifa's face, her arms around her shoulders in a loose embrace.

"I'm glad that it's you."

Tifa smiled, taking Aerith's hands in her own. In spite of everything that was going on, the chaos that their journey had brought - and was sure to bring - for just that one moment, she felt at peace.

For that one moment, everything felt like it was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> My gay heart can't deal with these two, so I had to write a little something. I hope it's okay! (Also please tell me someone caught my Barret reference.) Apologies for any uncaught mistakes, I'm my own beta reader. Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, they help keep me writing. Thank you for reading!


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